Would you classify your compliance efforts as reactive? Are you spending time at the last minute trying to meet impending compliance deadlines? Or missing them altogether? Proactive compliance is the answer to these inconsistencies and the way to get your organizational compliance efforts on track.
So, what is proactive compliance? It’s anticipating compliance regulations and strategically preparing to meet those deadlines in advance. Fortunately, there are proactive steps for you to take today.
This organizational compliance calendar should be the tool you live by, and creating one isn’t difficult. Once you do, you’re able to search for upcoming compliance regulations that you know affect your company. Is there a regulation that must be renewed every year? Instead of reacting to looming deadlines, you proactively seek them out and schedule tasks around them. Anticipate compliance regulation deadlines and stay organized.
In compliance, it is important to have a paper trail. Maintain documentation on all of your compliance efforts. Whether you’re facing an audit or have to answer for the progress of your organizational compliance, documentation keeps you proactive. Don’t limit your efforts to a file cabinet (or ten) with compliance documentation inside. Instead, explore cloud-based options for file storage.
A step in the proactive compliance direction is seeking out solutions that utilize the cloud. When you’re constantly traveling to maintain global compliance, or working with an international team, a could-based compliance solution is ideal for storing all of your information and housing schedules and calendars. Choose a cloud solution that’s right for your company so you’re able to maximize your efforts to maintain compliance.
When you’re working internationally, you know how difficult it is to keep up with constantly changing global compliance regulations. There’s always a new law or amendment to a regulation that could cost you high noncompliance fines if you’re not aware of it. To enact proactive compliance in your organization, you need to stay on top of the changing compliance regulations that impact you. Stay current by reading government compliance newsletters and websites. Or, partner with an online database. No matter how you stay up to date on the changes in the compliance industry, it’s worth the effort to avoid noncompliance fines that could cripple your company.
When you want to turn your company in the direction of proactive compliance, transparency is paramount. Not only are employees who work directly with compliance regulations accountable for the results, but so are the stakeholders and board members. Greater transparency provides peace of mind and prevents compliance regulations from falling through the cracks. Ensure that key members of your team and the board have an overview of projects and timelines. One way to increase transparency is by providing weekly or monthly update reports on the progress of your global compliance efforts.
Your safety net should be a person trained to fill your position. In the event of a merger, acquisition or even vacation day, there should be someone trained to keep the compliance efforts moving forward. When you’re facing the risks of noncompliance, you need an extra set of eyes to monitor the schedules, ensure adherence to compliance regulations and be consistently proactive.
Looking for more ways to avoid noncompliance? Download your free copy of 7 Tactics To Prevent Global Compliance Fines From Threatening Your Company.
Fight The Risk Of Global Growth With Proactive Compliance: Free Whitepaper
